USA TODAY International Edition
‘ Killer clowns’ go global
In U. K., Canada, Australia, scaring people is not a laughing matter for law officers or friendly clowns
The “killer clown” craze that began in the USA has gone global, including incidents reported in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
Wednesday, British police investigated dozens of reported incidents involving people dressed up as creepy clowns.
The craze began in August when there were reports of people dressed as clowns trying to lure children into the woods in South Carolina.
Armed officers from London's Heathrow Airport checked into a report Tuesday about a driver wearing a clown mask and brandishing a gun in a nearby neighborhood. The man was arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm and remained in police custody Wednesday.
The incident is the latest in a string of reports of clowns terrifying people on Britain’s streets.
Simon Chinery, 28, said he was left permanently disabled after he grabbed a 10- inch blade carried by a clown who crept up behind him in Blackburn, British media reported Wednesday.
In London, reports include a clown confronting a man with a hockey stick, clowns chasing children and a knife- carrying clown on a bicycle following a woman.
Police in Kent, southern England, had 59 reports of incidents involving clowns from Friday to Monday.
Tuesday, Kenny Ojuederie, 19, a university student in London, apologized after he was arrested for public order offenses. He was accused of chasing two men with a chainsaw while dressed as a clown, the Evening Standard reported. He told the newspaper he was filming a prank for his YouTube channel.
In Manchester, Kurtis Mulvaney, 29, said two people dressed as clowns approached his car, one of them carrying a machete, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Police in Western Australia arrested a 19- year- old man for allegedly terrifying teen girls at a shopping center in Northam, while dressed as a clown.
In Canada, police in Cape Breton, Bowmanville, Halifax, Gatineau, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Ottawa, Quebec and Toronto have investigated incidents involving clowns, the BBC reported.
Professional clowns have condemned the craze. “This is nothing to do with clowning, it’s to do with people hijacking a costume and for some sinister reason trying to scare people,” Rob Bowker, a spokesman for the U. K.- based Clowns International.